Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Every year at the MVP Summit I get asked the same question like clockwork: hasn't Loop replaced OneNote? No.
They solve different problems at different moments in how you work. And while that debate has rumbled on, the OneNote team have been quietly heads-down delivering some of the most significant improvements to the product in years.
In true Microsoft fashion, they threw the engineers at the ink stack and rewrote it from the ground up - headlining a 85% improvement in ink latency. And you can feel it. That tiny gap where the ink used to chase your hand is effectively gone. It now feels like putting pen to paper, which on a Surface Pro is exactly what it should feel like.
On top of that there's a new Pen Focused View, a fountain pen and brush pen with pressure-based stroke, an eyedropper, handwriting straightening, shape recognition by simply pausing your pen, and anchored ink that finally stays stuck to the image you annotated.
But the one nobody is talking about is what happens when you point Copilot at your messy handwritten scribbles and ask it to make sense of them. I call it Ink to Copilot, and it's genuinely amazing.
I'll keep inking on my Surface Pro 13 because a pen is a visual and spatial tool for thinking — and that matters more in the AI era, not less. But if you haven't picked up the pen in a while (or you feel that social pressure of looking 'weird' for using something different to everyone else) then OneNote is not the app it was a few years ago. Give it a try and let me know how you found it in the comments.
Chapters to make your life easier:
01:03 The Ink Engine: an 85% latency improvement
01:42 Improved Palm Rejection
02:10 Pen Focused View
02:35 New Pens & Tools on the draw tab
02:51 Hand Writing Recognition Pen
03:22 Ink Cursor Preview
03:40 The Eyedropper Tool
03:50 The Handwriting Straightening Tool
04:17 Shape Recognition by pausing our pen
05:04 Anchored Ink: annotations that stay put
05:29 Ink to Copilot: making sense of messy notes
07:19 Why pen + AI matters: the bigger picture
08:43 The Wrap Up
~---~ Contact ASI Solutions ~---~
Are you ready to do more with your device? Talk to the Digital Skills team at ASI Solutions to see how a Technology Coach can help you and your team to achieve more today. Contact our team at training@asi.com.au
~---~ Let's Connect! ~---~
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/asi-solutions-training
Facebook: facebook.com/asi.com.au
Twitter: twitter.com/asi_solutions
Instagram: instagram.com/asi_solutions
Website: https://www.asi.com.au/
Every year at the MVP Summit I get asked the same question like clockwork: hasn't Loop replaced OneNote? No.
They solve different problems at different moments in how you work. And while that debate has rumbled on, the OneNote team have been quietly heads-down delivering some of the most significant improvements to the product in years.
In true Microsoft fashion, they threw the engineers at the ink stack and rewrote it from the ground up - headlining a 85% improvement in ink latency. And you can feel it. That tiny gap where the ink used to chase your hand is effectively gone. It now feels like putting pen to paper, which on a Surface Pro is exactly what it should feel like.
On top of that there's a new Pen Focused View, a fountain pen and brush pen with pressure-based stroke, an eyedropper, handwriting straightening, shape recognition by simply pausing your pen, and anchored ink that finally stays stuck to the image you annotated.
But the one nobody is talking about is what happens when you point Copilot at your messy handwritten scribbles and ask it to make sense of them. I call it Ink to Copilot, and it's genuinely amazing.
I'll keep inking on my Surface Pro 13 because a pen is a visual and spatial tool for thinking — and that matters more in the AI era, not less. But if you haven't picked up the pen in a while (or you feel that social pressure of looking 'weird' for using something different to everyone else) then OneNote is not the app it was a few years ago. Give it a try and let me know how you found it in the comments.
Chapters to make your life easier:
01:03 The Ink Engine: an 85% latency improvement
01:42 Improved Palm Rejection
02:10 Pen Focused View
02:35 New Pens & Tools on the draw tab
02:51 Hand Writing Recognition Pen
03:22 Ink Cursor Preview
03:40 The Eyedropper Tool
03:50 The Handwriting Straightening Tool
04:17 Shape Recognition by pausing our pen
05:04 Anchored Ink: annotations that stay put
05:29 Ink to Copilot: making sense of messy notes
07:19 Why pen + AI matters: the bigger picture
08:43 The Wrap Up
~---~ Contact ASI Solutions ~---~
Are you ready to do more with your device? Talk to the Digital Skills team at ASI Solutions to see how a Technology Coach can help you and your team to achieve more today. Contact our team at training@asi.com.au
~---~ Let's Connect! ~---~
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/asi-solutions-training
Facebook: facebook.com/asi.com.au
Twitter: twitter.com/asi_solutions
Instagram: instagram.com/asi_solutions
Website: https://www.asi.com.au/
